


Dancing Demons and Empty Cups

by Seasnake



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-08 11:41:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15242613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seasnake/pseuds/Seasnake
Summary: Bendy, Alice, and Boris exist in the Cuphead universe.Cameo appearances from the human characters in Bendy and the Ink Machine.This is totally silly, I know, but couldn't stop myself. I just kept writing.





	Dancing Demons and Empty Cups

**Author's Note:**

> There are better fics out there about how and why all the debtors lost/sold their souls to The Devil. I just touch on it briefly here.

A week after The Devil’s defeat, imps approached the homes of several former debtors. Of the 17 debtors some like Cuphead and Mugman gambled their souls away at the casino, others sold theirs for deals. Those who sold their souls were now called upon by imps waving white peace flags.

           

Wally Warbles wasn’t particularly surprised to see this and he allowed the imp to draw a quick summoning circle on the ground. A humanoid, red skinned devil in a business suit appeared from the upside down pentagram. “Mr. Joey Drew from Inkwell Hell accounts department, to deliver a message from The Devil.” He nodded to the bird then continued. “The terms of your previous contract were as follows, Ahem.” He unrolled a piece of parchment to read. “Wally Warbles sells his soul so that his son, Wallace Warbles Jr., will not die of his birth defect. That Wallace Jr.’s fatal head swelling be changed to a non-fatal condition. In addition, Wally Warbles continue to live until such a time that his son is capable of caring for himself. At such a time Wally Warbles forfeits ownership of his soul to The Devil upon the condition that his son’s medical state remains non-fatal and Wallace Jr. shall not be killed of malicious intent of The Devil, post soul forfeiting. End document. I am here to inform you that as your contract was burned and never fulfilled, the entire agreement is void. All will return to states prior to the document’s inception. In your case this means Wallace Jr.’s medical condition will revert to what it was before The Devil intervened. You have 24 hours before this commences.”

 

He put away the scroll and pulled out a business card. “The Devil is willing to hear negotiation for a new contract. I now take my leave.” The demon and imp disappeared, leaving a charred circle behind.

 

“Dad, please don’t consider it.”

 

“I’m not going to let you die, Jr. I only fought because I wanted to wait until you were older.”

 

“No! Dad! That’s not fair!”

 

            Before they could argue further a ray of came from the sky. “I’m called Penny Cillian, the angel of mercy.” A beautiful female wren with rainbow flight feathers flew down and hovered in front of them.  “Your continued sacrifice shall be rewarded. You may both live without giving up your souls.”

 

“Now, why not earlier?”

 

“Jr!” Wally didn’t want to look this gift horse in the mouth.

The bird/angel didn’t take offense rather she looked sad. “I’m sorry, life is unpredictable and, well, we are very busy. I do my best, really.”

 

“Oh, um, thank you.”

 

“Yes, thank you.”

 

“Now, there are two costs to this bargain. I will heal your affliction, if you both promise to not linger as ghosts after you die. No staying around to watch the world of the living. Go straight to the Almighty, alright?”

 

“That sounds reasonable. What’s the other cost?” Wallace Jr. spoke on their behalf.

 

“Neither of you will remember any of this. You won’t remember the imps arriving or seeing me. As far as you both will know, Wallace’s health stayed despite the contract being burned. You’ll only remember when you die, so that you’ll know to go to The Almighty as promised. I don’t know why The Almighty has this rule, but she does.”

 

“That’s hardly a price at all.”

 

“If that’s all we’ll happily take your deal, Angel of Mercy.”

 

“Yay!” She fluttered her feathers happily then remembered. “Oh, I better warn you. If you go against your word and try to stay as ghosts, then The Almighty will send her debt collectors after you or possibly send you to Hell as contract breakers.”

 

“Uh, well I guess that’s only fair. As long as the Almighty doesn’t go back on his end of the deal.”

 

“Her end, Dad, she said ‘she’.”

           

The Angel of Mercy did not offer a similar deal to Baroness Von Bon Bon, Ribby and Croaks, Goopy, or Djimmi; whom had sold their souls for talent. She did heal Beppie The Clown when he considered retaking the deal. Beppie was far older than he looked and the main owner of the amusement park/fun houses of isle two. If he died he worried the businesses would go under and leave people jobless. Penny gave him five more years of good health to get his business in order without funds from the Devil before he passed on.

 

Werner Werman sold his soul years ago when he fought in the Small Mammals War of Independence on the Mainland. He was retired now and didn’t care if he returned to his frail pre-contract state and said so. He was content, so Penny didn’t visit him. Hilda Berg was also pleased enough to give up her contract. The powers she’d bought were more of a curse than a gift.

 

Sally Stageplay was a failed actress who sold her soul for fame and leading roles. She planned to pay up when her time came but then fell in love with her co-star and realized life was worth living. She fought off debt collectors and sent the imp running home because while being a nobody again would stink, dying and not getting to see her fiancé again would be worse. She’d learned her lesson.

 

The Gorgon Curse was possibly the worst hereditary disease to plague humanoid fish of the Inkwell sea. Symptoms began early with the ability to enter a gorgon transformation when under pain or duress. Over time entering that form became uncontrollable, eventually permanate and the abilities associated with it intensified. Instead of turning people to stone temporarily at will, fully developed gorgons turned everyone who saw them into stone forever, aka, death. Worse than that, a gorgon couldn’t look at herself without turning her own hands or whole body to stone. She grew a new body but the process was painful. Gorgons eventually died by seeing their reflections or by suicide after killing their friends and family.

 

In the throws of her illness Cala’s mother sold her soul and her young daughter’s soul to cure her curse and so that her daughter would never have to suffer as she did. She should have been more careful in the wording because The Devil cured her illness by killing her and planning to collect Cala’s soul before her symptoms became severe. Cala didn’t even see an imp, as Penny cornered it and sent it home before it arrived. Instead the angel came to Cala and cured her illness in exchange for her mother’s sacrifice.

           

Break:

 

 

“Eek!”

 

“Jump out!”

 

“Throw me the rope!” The wind carried cries that sounded like newbies trying to moor a boat. Cuphead and Mugman went to investigate. They arrived at the pier in time to see a small motor boat with two people on board being tied to the dock by a third small figure. The brothers approached them. The girl on the boat noticed them coming. She quickly removed her hat and pointed them out to the person on shore. Cuphead and Mugman weren’t close enough to see details but they could tell that the boy on the dock twitched and transformed. His outline changed as his thin tail got a bit thicker and the points on his head changed shape slightly.

 

            Cuphead and Mugman shared a glance at this odd behavior but decided to say hello anyway.

 

“Hello,” the brothers called and stepped onto the pier.

 

“Hi!” The boy finished tying off the rope and turned to greet them. He was a black cat, a little bit shorter than Cuphead, wearing a red bowtie, shoes and gloves. “This is Inkwell Isle, right? Did we make it?” He bounced up and down in place happily.

 

“Yep, this is Isle 1.”

 

“Goody!” He beamed at the brothers then saw the girl was carefully stepping ashore. He looked pointedly at her wobbly stance and grinned mischievously. The girl noticed.

 

“Don’t you dare! I will tell!” She scampered to safety as quickly as she could. She looked human with long black hair, over a head taller than the cat boy, wearing a black dress, white socks and gloves, and black slip-on shoes. The cat boy giggled, pleased to have upset her without doing anything bad.

 

            The girl stuck her tongue out at him and dusted herself off before addressing the brothers. “Hello, I’m Susie, my idiot brother is Henry, and our friend is Wally.” Wally was a tall anthropomorphic canine in overalls. Wally didn’t say anything, only waved and checked to make sure the boat was safely docked. She was going to say more but Henry talked over her.

 

“We came to meet the two cup boys who beat the devil. Is that you guys?”

 

“Golly, folks on the mainland have heard of us?” Mugman was a bit embarrassed. Cuphead wasn’t shy and happily introduced them.

 

“Gee, that’s impressive. Never heard of anyone beating Devil before, except angels and The Almighty of course.” Henry babbled happily and shook their hands. “How’d you do it? Magic powers? Are you made of porcelain or something tougher?”

 

            This was not the first time the brothers had been questioned about their adventure and answered amiably.

 

            The brothers had a few practice targets and training dummies made of leaves and old sacks around the woods of Old Kettle’s house. The brothers had made these after their adventure to maintain their fighting skills. They took their guests there to show off their weapons when asked. Mugman only talked for a little while before finding a log out of the way to sit on.

 

Wally came over and sat by Mugman. “They don’t mean to make you uncomfortable. They’ve met The Devil and fought demons before so they’re genuinely curious.” He spoke for the first time.

 

“I don’t mind. I’m just not as personable as Cuphead.”

 

“May I ask, which one of your is older?” Wally asked.

 

“I am, not by much though. I’m guessing you’re older than your friends?” Guessed from how calm he was.

 

“By about six years. They’re only allowed to sail if I’m with them.”

 

“That’s nice of you to bring them.”

 

“I like them. We’re practically cousins. Their Mother and my adoptive mom have lived like sisters since they were kids.”

 

“Must be nice, we don’t have any family except for Elder Kettle.”

 

“Elder Kettle?” Wally repeated. “There was a famous magic potions brewer on the Inkwell Peninsula named Master Kettle decades ago.”

 

“Yeah, he still brews to pay the bills,” Mugman smiled proudly. “He gave us our first magic potion.”

 

“Spiffy.”

 

“If we visit again I’d love to see his equipment,” Susie joined them. Cuphead and Henry were still chatting. “I’m teaching myself chemistry.” She then flashed a smile at Wally. “Wally likes machines. He built his boat.”

 

“Spiffy,” Mugman repeated.

 

            “Well, Susie has some long-ranged magic like that, and Wally can roar and throw his fur, but I don’t,” Henry answered Cuphead’s query about his fighting abilities. “I mostly transform.”

 

“Is that what you did earlier? By the boat?”

 

“Oh, you saw that?” Henry shuffled his feet, guiltily. “Actually, I was born looking…unusual so I’m supposed to stay looking like this around people I don’t know. I’d be made fun of otherwise.”

 

“Because of how you look? We wouldn’t do that.”

 

“Really? That’s nice of you.”

 

“I mean it.” Cuphead added when he didn’t immediately transform.

 

“Oh, I can’t do it now, Susie would tattle.” He sent a frown at his sister.

 

“Boy, I’m glad Mugman’s my brother. Having a sister must be awful,” Cuphead said jokingly.

 

“Susie would be annoying even if she were a boy.” Henry said between giggles. “I can fight at least a little, though. Susie! Do I have permission to use my claws?” He asked sarcastically.

 

“Go ahead,” she answered straight. Henry made an exasperated face at her and removed his gloves.

 

“These are what I usually fight with.” His black fingers turned long and sharp. He sliced the practice dummy in four parts with a swipe.

 

“Neat.”

 

“I can also turn my tail pointy. And take it off.” Henry demonstrated removing his tail and waving it around like a sword.

 

“We can’t stay much longer,” Wally spoke louder than he had yet.

 

“Already?”

 

“It’s a long trip back.”

 

“Aw.”

 

“You can visit again.”

 

            They took that invitation about a month later. Wally’s mother had business on the isles and he gave Henry a lift. Cuphead and Mugman had a grand old time with them. The brothers had made a dozen new friends since fighting The Devil, they didn’t mind adding more to that list. Henry also came to visit without Wally.

 

            “No one is around to tattle so can we see what you really look like?” Cuphead asked on this third trip. They had just bought ice cream from the carnival stand and were eating in the shade.

 

“Well,” Henry glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention. “I don’t mind. As long as you aren’t rude about it.”

 

“Why would we be?”

 

“Some people think I’m evil even though I was born looking like this.”

 

“Okay, promise.”

 

“Yeah, promise.”

 

            Henry shrugged and shook his head slightly as if dislodging his ears. The fury cat ears fell away into smooth horns. All feline features disappeared, leaving him humanoid sans neck and a thin tail with a hook on the end. He kept eating while the brothers eyed him curiously.

 

“Are you an imp?” Cuphead asked.

 

“Dad says I’m a demon.” He shrugged again.

 

“I can see how that would be a problem with people thinking you work for The Devil.”

 

“It gets annoying. If we go on rides I’ll do it as a cat. Oh and, um, my name isn’t really Henry.” Henry said guiltily. “Our parents have a lot of enemies so they make us go by pseudonyms in public.”

 

“What kind of enemies?” Mugman asked, concerned.

 

“Mom heals people and fights bad guys. Dad owns a large territory that he has to run. People either want what Dad has or don’t like how he rules his subjects, and people get mad sometimes when Mom heals someone they want dead or she doesn’t heal someone they wanted her to.” Henry explained.

 

“That sounds complicated. What’s your name, for real?”

 

“It’s Bendy.” He gave him a big grin. “Henry said I could borrow his name. He used to babysit us.” He realized that was pointless information.

 

            They met up with a few other children and visited Beppie’s carnival.

 

Break:

 

            Alice prided herself on being sharp, so she knew this was coming. She watched Bendy rummage through his closet for a shirt to match his skirt. Bendy, like Mom, didn’t care about gender norms, especially when it came to dancing. He wore and did whatever he wanted, including wearing tutus and skirts that ‘swished’ when he danced. “You’re really going to ask him out?”

 

“Yep. He has a lot of admirers I need to do this before someone beats me to it.” Bendy settled on a vest Dad gave him and buttoned it.

 

“Dad’s going to spit a brick.”

 

“Not if you don’t tell him.”  


“You want to write a blank check?” She liked the idea of Bendy owing her a favor.

Instead, Bendy turned to her with big eyes. “Or you won’t tell him because you’re my big sister and you love me?” Alice glared at him for a second.

 

“Fine.”

 

“Yay! Thank you!” Bendy hugged her and dashed off. Alice watched him go and shook her head. This wasn’t going to end well.

 

            Bendy knocked on Elder Kettle’s front door while holding a bouquet of flowers. Elder Kettle opened the door.         

 

“Hi, is Cuphead home?” Elder Kettle eyed him for a minute then called over the older brother.

 

“Mugman, distract your brother for a minute.” Mugman glanced at Bendy, figured out what was going on and ran inside. “Are you here to ask my boy on a date?”

 

“Yes, Sir.”

 

Kettle stared him down a minute longer. “You two are still young, so don’t rush things and nothing inappropriate.”

 

“Yes, Sir. I mean, no, Sir.” Kettle let him off the hook by chuckling.

 

“You seem like a nice young man. You two have a good time.”

 

“If Cuphead says yes.”

 

“Oh, I don’t think that’s a concern.” He said then waved for Cuphead to come to the door. “Cuphead a friend of yours is here.”

 

“Bendy?” Cuphead steps onto the porch and Kettle herds Mugman inside so they can have a bit of privacy.

 

            Mugman lingered by the window until Cuphead dashed in. “Bendy and I are going out, is that okay?”

 

“Yes, just be home before dark.”

 

“Thank you!” He made to run outside again but Mugman stopped him.

 

“Cuphead wait.” He took the flowers for him. “Let me put those in water.”

 

“Oh right, thank you!” Cuphead said quickly then left. Mugman and Elder Kettle shared a grin at his excitement. Mugman put the flowers in a vase on the window sill and studied it for a minute.

 

“Flowers are a good first gift but that arrangement is clearly meant for a boy. You’ll want to pick different types of flowers,” Elder Kettle offered without prompting. Mugman flushed with embarrassment and hastily made himself busy.

 

Break:

 

            “Hi, I wanted to ask you on a second date but she insisted on tagging along,” Bendy pointed at his sister unhappily.

 

“Now that you know what Bendy looks like, I figured we could have a brawl. And call me Alice.”

 

“Brawl?”

 

“Play fight. I may be a lady but I need practice defending myself.”  


“And showing off,” Bendy muttered. Alice kicked him in the shin.

 

“You think that’s a good idea?” Mugman wasn’t sure.

 

“Could be fun,” Cuphead wasn’t overly worried.

 

“As long as we stop before anyone gets hurt.”

 

“We can take a lot of damage, though, so don’t hold back, alright?” Bendy liked this idea.

 

            For the play battle the brothers only had two health each. Alice flew, threw her hallo like a discus, and created falling music notes by singing. Bendy, true to his word, fought exclusively close quarters. He slashed with his claws, extended his tail, and teleported around. (loose at stage one. Cuphead is unhappy with the result “We can do better than that. Let’s try again.”) When the fight heated up, Bendy did a pirouette and melted into a pool of black sludge. He rose from this puddle as blob-like forms for hit and run attacks. (loose at stage two. Alice tries to fend Bendy’s sludge form off with her foot. “Ew! Ew, don’t touch me!”) When the brothers did enough damage, Bendy’s face rose from the goo to hiss with his forked tongue and then grew to four times his normal size. He lost his tail but his claws were huge. Alice also got annoyed at this point and flew high into the sky, only to reappear a second later holding a cloud. A cloud that she cut with a sword to make it shoot off lightning. She also dove with her sword for slash attacks. (Loose stage 3. Alice, “Not bad.” Bendy, “You’re good but how did you beat D…Devil?”) When the brothers won the fight Alice and Bendy each produced a white flag to wave. Bendy shrunk and looked at Cuphead with heart eyes.

 

            “That was fun.”

 

“You two are impressive. You can’t take damage so you both dodge so well! It’s like you know what’s coming.” Bendy barely glanced at Mugman.

 

“Thanks. Did you turn liquid?” Cuphead spoke with him happily.

 

“I did. It’s still viscus liquid, I can’t manage the consistency of water.”

 

“You did well, too. Don’t mind Bendy,” Alice said to Mugman.

 

“It’s fine. He really likes him, huh?” Mugman watched their younger brothers speaking animally to each other.

 

“Hm,” Alice considered her words. “Bendy has a huge heart. He cries over melted snowmen. I’ve never seen him like this, though.” She watched them for a moment. “I know he’s your brother but if he hurts Bendy, I’m going to have to kill him.” Mugman tried to figure out if she was joking or not. She noticed his look. “Don’t worry, Mom would bring him back.” Mugman decided she was joking.

 


End file.
